Reykjavik. That’s how it is spelled out but it doesn’t sound that way here when they say it.

I heard a very interesting conversation in Finnish yesterday on the bus from the airport to the Hilton Hotel where we are staying.

The language sounds like Russian, Italian and Spanish all tossed in together. I understood most of it. Are you kidding?

We took a taxi into the downtown and walked around for hours trying to get used to the time change. The taxi ride was expensive. Twelve minutes long and cost $25.00. Hey, taxi drivers need to eat too. It’s Sunday and many of the stores are open.

Our taxi driver was named Klonerjgfytorntony, but I just called him Bob for convenience sake. He was a fisherman on a trawler for twenty-five years, or so he says. He looked a little suspicious so I asked him if he was on the lamb from Greenland, but he denied it with great enthusiasm.

The taxes are very high here. I think writing is taxed by the letter here, so they leave out most of the vowels. I will try to be brief.

I’ve met two people here from Portugal already. What’s up with that. I also met and talked Spanish to a couple walking down the street from Spain. My Spanish isn’t bad but I have a limited vocabulary.

We had a nice dinner at Bastards which is just off the main street. They have casual food and hamburgers and such. The food was very good and the interior design was interesting and perhaps a little provocative. No surprise I guess from a place called Bastards. The staff were very nice and we had a pleasant meal.

We had an order of a burger and fries, chicken strips and fries and two sodas. The bill came to $48.00 including the mandatory tip, plus we tipped another five dollars. My wife and I have both been food servers and understand how demanding the job is.

It seems to be very expensive to live here in Iceland, so far.

The temperature is a balmy 14 degrees centigrade with slightly cloudy skies. Double that and add thirty to get Fahrenheit. Some have other ways of doing this, but this way is easy and accurate enough.

The people are very pleasant as are those that have waited on us. It seems to be a very pleasant town, but who knows what they say about us in the privacy of their own homes. Good things, I hope.

Tomorrow, the 9th, we are on our own. The magic starts on Tuesday.

I was very comfortable in my Patagonia travel wear. It looks great and keeps me toasty warm on cold days. It is very light and takes up little room in our luggage.

There’s an interesting looking church tower in the middle of town. It looks like a tall, narrow pyramid. We will see it up closer tomorrow.

Our room at the Hilton over looks the sea. It is a pleasant room and the bed looks very comfortable.